Drapery support



J. A. VAN WIE DRAPERY SUPPORT 1 June 2, 1953 Filed Aug. 6

IIIHI' 2 7 I 6 M ll 2 M mil 3 hm w I l" 3 W 2 1 Va, 2 2

INVENTOR. VA N WI E JOHN A.

ATTORNEY Patented June 2, 1953 UNITED: STATES PATENT DRAPERY SUPPORT John A. Van Wie, Portland, Oreg. Application August 6, 1951, Serial No. 240,469

supporting stage draperies, and is particularly adapted to the draperies used on either side, or back of theatre stages,

The primary object of this invention is to provide a means of revolving hanging drapes about their vertical axis by a simple pull chain mechanism.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means of automatically locking the hanging mechanism in any adjusted position.

In the carrying out of the above objects, the operator can operate the pull chain from a convenient standing position on the stage floor level.

These and other incidental objects will be apparent in the drawings, specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a side view of the drapery supporting mechanism, parts being broken away for convenience of illustration.

Figure 2 is an end view of Figure 1, illustrating the same with the drape removed therefrom.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the turntable mechanism, taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1 with the curtain removed.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3, showing the drape supporting arm rotated slightly from the position illustrated in Figure 3 for convenience of illustration.

Figure 5 is another preferred form of mechanical mechanism for rotating the arm.

Referring more specifically to the drawings:

My new and improved drapery supporting pivot mechanism for hanging and operating sections of stage draperies consists of a circular base member I having oppositely disposed hanger brackets 2 forming part of and extending upwardly therefrom, terminating in a horizontal portion 3. These brackets may be supported by any suitable means, as for instance the roller assembly 4 operating within the tracks 5. The said roller assembly is connected to the bracket arms 2 by way of the downwardly extending threaded hangers 6 which pass through the bracket arms 3 and supported thereto by the locking nuts 7, although I do not wish to be limited to any method of supporting the base I through the bracket arms 2, as there are various methods of supporting draperies.

A turntable 8 including a disk 8 is pivotally connected to the base member I, by a king bolt 9, as best illustrated in Figure 4. A friction disk or sheet I0 is interposed between the base member I and the turntable 8. The base member I is cut away to provide an annular groove, as shown at 3 Claims. (Cl. 211

II, toprovide a depending annular peripheral flange I2 and a centrally disposed lug 13, both of which frictionally contact with the friction disk ID, to regulate the swinging movement of the turntable, when the apparatus is in use. Friction between the flange [2, lug 3, the sheet l0 and the disk 8 of the turntable is controlled by a spring washer l4, a nut l5 and a lock nut IS.

The turntable is formed with a circumferential flange I! formed with peripheral gear teeth I1 engaged by a gear wheel [8.

The spur gear I8 is keyed to the shaft H) which is journalled within the brackets 2 at 20. The shaft [9 has a sprocket 2| keyed thereto and adapted to be rotated by the pull chain 22. The curtain rod or bar 23 is supported in-the brackets 24 depending from the turntable disk. This curtain rod may be locked in any desired position by the set screw 25, or by any other suitable means. The chain 22 is prevented from jumping off the sprocket 2| by the shield HA,

I will now describe the operation of my new and improved drapery support. The operator grasps the pull chain 22 and rotates the shaft l9 by way of the sprocket 2|, which in turn rotates the spur gear [8, revolving the turntable 8 by way of the ring gear [1 in the desired direction to position the drape supporting rod 23 at the desired angle relative to the vertical axis of the curtain assembly. The friction disk I 0 holds the turntable and drapes in a fixed position after the pull on the chain 22 is released.

In Figure 5 I have illustrated another preferred form of operating mechanism wherein a worm 26 drives the worm gear 2! corresponding to the ring gear H. In this type of construction the friction disk II! can be eliminated due to the fact that the worm itself provides a braking or holding mechanism in regards to the turntable 8.

What I claim is:

l. A drapery support, comprising hanger brackets connected to a base member, a tumtable including a disk member having a peripheral flange formed on its upper outer circumferential edge with teeth, a centrally disposed bolt pivotally connecting the two members together, a bar connected to the underside of the turntable disk to support drapery, a, shaft mounted in the hanger brackets and extending across the base member, a gear wheel on one end of the shaft engaging the teeth on the peripheral flange, and means on the opposite end of the shaft for manually rotating same to cause rotation Of'the turntable and the bar carrying the drapery.

2. A drapery support, as defined in claim 1,

OFFICE,

wherein the base member is formed on its underside at the circumference thereof with a depending flange and a central boss, and a friction sheet interposed between the two members, the circumferential flange and boss engaging said sheet and the bolt connecting the member passing through the boss.

3. A drapery support, comprising a turntable including a disk member having a circumferential vertically disposed flanges at the circumference, the upper surface of the flange having teeth, a drapery bar hung from the underside of the disk member, a base member including a disk formed with a depending circumferential flange at its circumference which fits inside the vertical circumferential flange on the turntable disk, a centrally disposed boss depending from the underside of the base member, a fm'ction sheet on the upper surface of the turntable disk inside the circumferential flange thereof, thev circumferential flange and boss on the base member engaging the friction disk, a bolt connecting the 4 two disk members, a spring controlled element between the bolt and the turn-table disk members, a shaft mounted on the base member, a gear on the shaft to engage the teeth on the flange, and means on the shaft for manually rotating the latter.

JOHN A. VAN WIE.

' References Cited in. the flle of this patent UNITED STATES PA'rENrs Number Name Date 524,17e Jefferson Aug. 7, 1894 662,089 Pettey Nov. 20, 1900 916,680 Delmore Mar. 30, 1909 1,237,860 Beausejour Aug. 21, 1917 2,209,596 Brown July 30, 1940 2,390,117 Michelman Dec. 4, 1945 2,441,247 Mooney May 11, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 168,493 Great Britain Sept. 8, 1921 

